So you want a steer on the best GameCube games of all time? Well, we’re here to deliver. This list is our own completely unbiased view of the best games for GameCube, and we’ve kept it to ten titles, although we could have made it longer.
Although the GameCube is often considered a ‘failure’, it was somewhat misunderstood. The games below are a testament to the quality entertainment the console provided and the wonderful memories that both exclusive and shared titles provided on the purple box.
Key Takeaways
- The GameCube was great for chaotic, hugely fun couch-multiplayer games.
- Both sequels and original titles flourished on the GameCube.
- Luigi’s Mansion is a brilliantly bizarre experience other consoles missed out on.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee was the best-selling Gamecube game and a top fighting game.
- All Mario Kart games should offer the option of having two players in one Kart, just like in Double Dash.
- Show Full Guide
Best GameCube Games of All Time
10. Soulcalibur II
- Developer: Project Soul
- Publisher: Namco
- Release Year: 2002
The best GameCube fighting games? There are only two, let’s be honest. The best features later, but the other is Soulcalibur II. A great game on the Xbox and PS2 as well, it was a standout win for Nintendo’s console. What a fun game — simple to play but hard to master; it offered weapon options for your character (hat-tip to Soul Edge) and had a solid range of both.
Let’s not forget that you could play as the ‘guest character’ Link on the GameCube. Which, let’s be fair, was a brilliant move! But so were the simple things: nailing the ‘step’ maneuver, the Soul Charge dynamic, the Guard system, Soul Edge weapons, and the chapter-based Conquest Mode. It was just so much fun. And yet, other games keep it at 10.
9. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
- Developer: Silicon Knights
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Year: 2002
Ahh, the plot of the titular ancient leather-bound (human skin?) book left behind by a horrendously but mysteriously killed character. It can only be Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, one of the best GameCube exclusive games, without a doubt.
Alexandra Roivas, granddaughter of the deceased, goes to her grandfather’s estate to attempt to unravel his death. She uncovers the aforementioned book and a 2,000-year battle against the forces of darkness. You know, as you do.
For its time-hopping originality and genuine good versus evil vibes, Eternal Darkness is remembered fondly. It even supported widescreen — a contemporary inclusion for a game released in 2002.
8. TimeSplitters 2
- Developer: Free Radical Design
- Publisher: Eidos Interactive
- Release Year: 2002
Timesplitters 2 was a 2000s cross-platform gem. But the fact that it made it to Nintendo’s console simultaneously puts it up there as one of the best co-op GameCube games. Although, technically, you could have up to 16 players on the PS2 and Xbox versions, this wasn’t available for GameCube.
Still, four-player split-screen wasn’t uncommon for the time, and you could play the story mode in two-player co-op. That story, something out of the 2400s, with bloodthirsty aliens wanting powerful crystals and scattering them across time, etc., was pretty cool. All things considered, it’s still one of the best four-player GameCube games to ever be released.
But honestly, just let us shoot and deal with the halved health we have because we have a buddy helping us. 16 game modes in total, customizable multiplayer, and a mapmaker tool? The stuff of all-nighter dreams.
7. Resident Evil 4
- Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4
- Publisher: Capcom
- Release Year: 2005
Resident Evil 4 may have had a remake in 2023, but the original first arrived in 2005 on the PlayStation 2 and the GameCube. By this point, Resident Evil was well-established as an IP to watch. As it had been six years since Nemesis terrorized everything in sight in Resident Evil 3, we were ready for a new chapter.
Reintroducing Leon S. Kennedy (first seen in Resident Evil 2) and a story now well known, loved, and revisited more recently. But at the time, Leon’s mission to save Ashley Graham was unknown and a gripping-as-a-feature-film-type affair. It is undeniably one of the best GameCube game horror games, given the heart-racing action and constant scarcity of ammunition.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Developer: Nintendo EAD
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Year: 2006
The pitch for Twilight Princess may have been along the lines of: “So it’s a Zelda game, with the Ocarina of Time control set, but Link can turn into a wolf, has an Imp side-kick and…”. There’s much more to it, of course; we’re talking about probably the best GameCube RPG here.
How good was it? A multiple million units sold, it was a multi-award-winning title considered one of the best GameCube games ever. In fact, there’s still a clamor for it to be re-released for the Switch; such is the strength of feeling. That may or may not happen, but it was available on the Wii U and the Nvidia Shield. Maybe it could eventually come out on the Switch 2; we’ll see.
5. Mario Kart: Double Dash
- Developer: Nintendo EAD
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Year: 2003
There had to be a Mario Kart game here somewhere, didn’t there? Quite rightly, first on the podium for the best racing games for GameCube, Double Dash is fondly remembered for many, many hours of piloting two-man karts, meaning your best driver could focus on the course while the other used power-ups, weapons, and their unique item.
The mid-2000s really was a multiplayer haven for in-home party play, too; assuming you had the hardware. Double Dash was just such a game and could be played by 16 players on the GameCube via LAN. That’s eight karts with two players in each, which meant maximum chaos and joy. All of the factually correct “best multiplayer GameCube games” lists include this diamond.
4. Metroid Prime
- Developer: Retro Studios
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Year: 2002
We’re now closing in on the final entrants for our best GameCube games list. Of course, Metroid Prime makes it in. Not only was this game around 13 hours long, it was a beautifully created first person shooter and action-adventure title. Firstly Metroid in 3D looked great, and the story and world were very enjoyable.
Mostly, that was thanks to traveling around a planet named Tallon IV, shooting things, solving puzzles, and uncovering easter eggs. But finding new items to use actually helped you in the story, and the gameplay, controls, and overall quality of the title were on point; helping to shift an impressive 2.8 million copies globally. No wonder why it’s considered one of the best FPS games on GameCube.
The Metroid Prime series continues strong more than 20 years later, with the newest installment in the franchise, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, scheduled to release in 2025.
3. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
- Developer: Factor 5 / LucasArts
- Publisher: LucasArts
- Release Year: 2001
Rogue Squadron was a hit on the N64, and the sequel being a launch title for the follow-up console, was immense. Rogue Leader looked fabulous too. Two years after the first Star Wars film in 16 years (The Phantom Menace) and a year before the next (Attack of the Clones), Star Wars fever ran wild.
In waiting for the next film, what did fans have? Rogue Squadron II, itself riding the wave of success its prequel provided. But it was a killer game in its own right. The piloting of several Star Wars crafts, the ability to give orders to your squadron, and an onboard droid fixing things. It was magical. Rogue Leader was just more and a better Rogue Squadron. Which meant it was epic.
2. Luigi’s Mansion
- Developer: Nintendo EAD
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Year: 2001
Two sequels on, the original Luigi’s Mansion set the standard for what initially seemed a bit of a left-field idea. But the genuinely spooky and silly-fun title was a hit in 2001 as a GameCube launch title. Luigi wins a mansion in a competition he didn’t enter, only to find Mario’s been trapped in a painting in said mansion. Perfect set-up.
Cue a haunted mansion and ghost-hunting vacuum-cleaner-and-flashlight style. One of the first and very best GameCube games, Luigi’s Mansion looked great. It even showcased graphical qualities that we take for granted decades later. Some people will tell you the sequels don’t stand up to the original. Honestly, some people are most people who played the original.
1. Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Developer: HAL Laboratory
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release Year: 2001
Why is this number one? It’s top of the pile for best-selling Gamecube games of all time, and also just a massive blitz of frenetic and chaotic bliss for gamers. The replayability value of Melee, with a group of friends or solo, means that surely almost every GameCube owner has picked it up and had an absolute blast with it.
So yes, it’s a fun fighting game. But it’s a really, really good fighting game and perhaps the best Super Smash Bros. game of them all too. The possibilities of studying the characters and that paying off, their abilities, and the tight-feel physics meant that Melee kept people playing for much longer than theft otherwise would.
It sold 7.4 million copies, had a neat side-scrolling story mode, and had a free-for-all four-player option where settings could be tweaked as preferred. It was not overly complex but completely enjoyable.
The Bottom Line
Ranking the 10 best GameCube games was no easy feat considering just how many quality titles Nintendo’s sixth-generation console enjoyed throughout its six-year lifespan. Despite failing behind the more popular PlayStation 2 and Xbox, the system had some standouts that play just as well today as they did over twenty years ago.